The Congress' Mumbai unit chief, Sanjay Nirupam, today said that 300 workers and some leaders, who had left the party to join the BJP, had returned.

Calling it a "ghar wapsi" (homecoming), Nirupam said that the move also reflected the sentiments of the people, adding that Delhi leader, Arvinder Singh Lovely, who had joined the BJP, had also returned.

He said, "The faulty way in which the BJP functions has become quite evident with prominent leaders coming back to the Congress. It takes a strong leadership and transparent administration for any party to function. The leaders who have grown up with the Congress' policies of honesty cannot work in the corrupt environment of the BJP," he claimed.

Nirupam said that the Congress' victory in recent bypolls in Rajasthan and its commendable performance in the Gujarat assembly elections had begun to change the tide for the party.

He said that these leaders lost faith in the BJP due to its insensitivity to the plight of farmers and common citizens and due to the "ineptness" of the BJP government beset with scams.

"Leaders like former MLA Virendra Bakshi, former district president Manoj Dubey and Raja Mirani who had split from the party, and joined the BJP, have now came back to the Mumbai unit of Congress. Along with them, 300 party workers have also returned," he said.